A Brief History of Newt Scamander
by 123PixieAOD
Summary: A collection of moments worth noting from the life of Newt Scamander, from his time at Hogwarts, to the discovery and study of magical beasts.
1. The Diricawl

Newton Scamander stared with intense curiosity at the creature in front of him. He would, in years to come, discover it was infact as a Diricawl. An easily frightened beast, it could, and in all certainly would, disappear in a puff of feathers at the slightest sign of danger. Yet infant Newt posed no threat, as so the Diricawl stayed, gently pecking at the ground.

Newt inched forward, his still baby button nose now inches away from the bird. The Diricawl paused for a moment, it's emerald eyes focusing on the child's, before refocusing its attention back on a particular blade of grass.

Newt remembered the sense of complete awe, of _wonder_ , as he watched the bird. He would later feel pleased, if not proud, to think he posed so little threat that the Diricawl felt no need to evaporate.

"Newt." His grandmother's voice broke the almost hypnotic calm. "Newt! Tea's ready dear. "

The Diricawl's head shot up, it's feathers puffing up. Newt, nestled in the long grass, silently pleaded for his grandmother not to come any closer.

He didn't need to turn around to tell his granny was approaching. Sunlight glistened on the Diricawl's feathers one last time before it disappeared. Newt watched, with a mixture of disappointment and wonder, as a cloud of Emerald feathers slowly drifted to the earth.

"Newt!" His grandmother's voice increased with insistency, and with chubby fingers Newt grabbed a Diricawl feather before running to tea.


	2. Megical Menagie

Every great man in history has a founding moment. Maybe Christopher Columbus watched a paper boat float to the horizon, maybe Van Gogh doodle a sunflower for the first time. Looking back in it all, Newt would point to that as his founding moment. Not that he was at all a great man, but that instance was indeed his founding moment.

In fact, he would have presumed it had been a dream, if not for the faded green feather resting on his window sill. London, while a brilliant place to live, was less so a brilliant place to grow up. While London was undoubtedly his home, he always considered his grandmother's rural cottage to be his refuge from the smoky city. His parents, Ptolemy and Araminta Salamander, while unarguably caring, were always busy. Be it with work, or meetings, or travelling. Newt, somewhat affectionately, believed he had rather follow through the cracks of parenting. While in London, he spent his time reading rather ill-informe, books on garden creatures, trying to identify the green 'puff-bird' he'd found. A somewhat boring task, he lived for the trips to Dorset. Due to his parents' busy work-life, he and his brother Theseus were often send to their granny's home in Dorset, where Newt happily roamed the garden in search of more creatures. However, garden trolls seemed to be his only find, and as bitten fingers would testify, they were not at all friendly beasts to study.

It was his eighth birthday when he discovered to whom his emerald feather belonged to. His parents, as part a birthday treat and part of parenting guilt due to a rather long diplomatic visit to Japan, had allowed him to choose anyway as a birthday destination.

"Floor powder my dear. Don't just think England, think anywhere! Maybe Israel, or America? I hear they have great -"

" I'd like to go to _Magical Menagerie_ shop please". Newt watched his brother's eye brows rocketing up his forehead in disbelief at the request.

" _Magical Menagerie_?" His mother looked down at her son, confusing painted on her expression.

"In Diagon Alley" Newt explained, and watched as his parents shared a glance.

"If that's what you really want.." His father replied slowly.

And so Newt found himself in Diagon Alley, standing in front of _Magical Menagerie_. He stared up at the cages, flanking the door, of small dragons dozing and a few owls watching him with amber eyes. A bell tinkled as he walked into the gloom.

It was crowded. Too cramped to at all be comfortable, yet Newt felt completely at home in screeching and hoots of the creatures. He looked around, too many sights to possible see at once. Owls, cats, snakes, dragons, and so many other animals he didn't yet have the vocabulary for surrounded him. The shop, despite having wide windows facing the street, was dark and musky, far too enclosures blocking out the light.

Ever so slowly, swivelling his head so fast he felt like it might fall off, he made his way towards the desk. A man with a long silver beard (which seemed to be dotted with glinting beetles), a crimson hat and a completely mismatching periwinkle cloak was busily trying to wrestle some sort of multi-legged beast into a cage. Newt watched silently, enthralled, until the man suddenly noticed his young observer, jumped several feet, released the creature and with too slow reactions tried to catch its tail (Newt was secretly pleased it was now seated in the rafters. The cage looked very cramped).

"Can I help you young sir"?

The servers voice was old and dusty, and sounded how Newt would imagine a stone gargoyles would sound.

"Um... Yes please," Newt stared at the worn wooden desk with sudden interest.

Carefully he laid the emerald feather, now extremely faded with age and sunlight, in front of the server. Without Newt having to say a word, he picked it up, twirling the hard spine between his fingers.

"A Diricawl's feather. Nothing rare whatsoever. However, the normal stain of the breed is an ash grey in colour, whereas this specimen posses a jade strain. I presume, then it is a of American, maybe South American extract, perhaps smuggled to Europe with hopes of reaching a high price." He paused for a moment, glancing down at Newt to ensure he still had the young boys attention. He continued.

"The Diricawl was in fact known to Muggles many ages ago, as the Dodo bird. However, due to their, well vanishing nature, the Muggles soon presumed the species to be extinct. It was decided, by the International Confederation of Wizards, that Muggles should not be informed of their misconception of the Dodo's fate, and keep the existence of the Diricawl strictly to the wizarding world." From the souring tone of the man, it was clear he did not believe it was the correct decision.

Newt nodded, enthralled, before gently taking back the feather. "Th-thank you sir."

The man smiled, his face cracking and folding in on itself as if it like old leather.

"Remember, young man. It is our duty it protect these beasts. These fantastic beasts. Never forget that."

And Newt never did.


	3. Billy

Theseus had naturally chosen an elegant Persian cat. It was silky grey, and despite Newts many attempts, refused to be anything near friendly to the younger brother. Theseus was his master, and the cat made sure that everyone knew she answered to only one man.

Newt, three years later, stood in the same shop he had been in for his birthday. While the creatures themselves had changed, the shop had not. Kennels and perches remained piled high, and cages crowded the ceiling. Animals stalked and slithered along the floor, dragons peeping from the rafters and amber eyes shining from the shadows. Newt adored it all.

He had planned to get an owl. _'A practical creature,'_ his father had told him. ' _Unlike your brother's superfluous creature,'_ he had then added with more than a little affection.

Newt's gaze flickered upwards, towards sharp eyes watching him. He had always found owls to be unnerving. Something about the unblinking, burning gaze. He gulped, preparing to choose the least scary looking owl.

But then he saw Billy. Or soon to be named Billy. Billy was undoubtedly one of the ugliest creature Newt had ever seen. A frog, but the term could only be applied loosely. Bulging eyes that looked in different directions, slimy skin that oozed beads of moisture. Even its legs looked mismatched, one thick while the others were stick thin.

"Ah yes. That one." The server, this time a young woman with neon pink hair, noticed the subject of Newt's gaze. "Can't shift him. Been with us since he was a tadpole. He can detect creatures you know? Magical animals. The boss reckoned one of those workers in the Department of Control of Magical Creatures would want him; we get them coming in every so often, but I think he's even too ugly for them." She laughed darkly.

Newt stared into those gunky, nearly cloudy, beady eyes.

"I'll take him."


End file.
